Post Offices

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how much investment his Department has made in the Post Office network in each of the last 15 years.

Jo Swinson: This Government has committed £1.34 billion over the course of this Parliament to maintain and modernise the Post Office network. As this funding has been publicly announced, this answer provides details for the last 15 financial years (1999/2000 to 2013/14) and also the additional year 2014/15 to the end of the current spending review period.
	Over the period 1999/2000 to 2014/15 the Government will have provided £3.52 billion to restructure, maintain and modernise the network. The following table sets out the payments made to Post Office Ltd for these purposes since 1999/2000. It includes compensation payments to around 5,000 sub-postmasters whose post offices were closed under the closure programmes of the previous Administration.
	The ongoing Network Transformation programme introduces new operating Models—Main and Local—that will help place the Post Office network on a more financially sustainable footing for the future, and reduce its reliance on public subsidy.
	
		
			 £ million 
			  Network subsidy payment Urban reinvention Network change Network transformation Other 
			 2074/75 160 — — 585 — 
			 2013/14 200 — — (1)— — 
			 2012/13 210 — — (1)— — 
			 2011/12 180 — — — — 
			 2010/11 150 — — — — 
			 2009/10 150 — 465 — — 
			 2008/09 150 180 (1)— — — 
			 2007/08 150 (1)— (1)— — — 
			 2006/07 150 (1)— — — — 
			 2005/06 150 (1)— — — — 
			 2004/05 150 (1)— — — 2 
			 2003/04 150 (1)— — — (1)— 
			 2002/03 — — — — (1)— 
			 2001/02 — — — — — 
			 2000/01 — — — — — 
			 1999/2000 — — — — 500 
			 Total 1,790 180 465 585 502 
			 (1) Indicates brace